micstewart
Member
Purchased a new 2021 Ford F-150 about a month and half ago. Left town for a week with truck locked and parked in garage. When I returned, I could not unlock the truck with the key fob or the Ford Pass app. The app displayed the message, "Your Vehicle is in Deep Sleep mode and connectivity is temporarily unavailable. Manually turn on your vehicle to deactivate this mode." To make matters worse, the physical key in the fob will not unlock the door. I guess the salesman should have tested it before he let me drive off the lot. Ford owner's manual (online) has no reference to "Deep Sleep mode". This forum thread has been very helpful. Roadside assistance showed up and tried to unlock the truck with a soft slim jim (pump and rod) with no luck. She tried to engage the door lock (doh!), but I told her the battery is likely dead. Only option now, according to the dealership, is to have it towed to the dealership and have them figure it out. Should I ask them to do the update and replace the battery? I'm open to any other suggestions. This is so frustrating to have this happen to a brand new vehicle.
UPDATE 03/22/2021 - No one at the dealership had any clue what Deep Sleep mode was and suggested that I call Roadside Assistance to have them come and unlock the truck and jump start it. Well, I did exactly that. The first attempt was a fail. The gal could not open the door. The dealership then suggested calling Roadside Assistance again to have the bring out a flatbed and tow it to the dealership. So that's what I did. When the drive showed up, he popped open the door in about 5 minutes and then tried to jump start the truck. It was a fail. The battery was completely drained and his jump box was not working. The only alternative was to drag it out of my garage on skids (since we couldn't get it out of park), load it up and two it to the dealer.
When I arrived at the dealership, again they said they hadn't heard of Deep Sleep mode before. Since the keys didn't work, the dealer had to request the key code from Ford, which required a copy of my drivers license and registration to verify my identity. After getting the key codes, the dealer had two new keys made, neither of which worked. I forgot that the dealer also gave us two standard keys (that don't go in the key fobs) which ended up working. So they thought they could cut new keys from these; however, upon further inspection, these were identical to all the other keys, including the new keys they had cut. The mystery continues.
Finally, the tech decided to tear down the lock and file down/smooth out the tublers which ultimately worked. Now I have a total of 6 keys - 4 key fob keys and 2 standard keys (BTW-Although the dealer told me all keys are working, one of the original key fob keys still does not fit completely in the door lock or unlock the door - FAIL!!). In the end, they replaced my battery and reprogrammed the computer to prevent future battery drains (we'll see about that). What a nightmare.
Although the service tech told me he had never heard of Deep Sleep mode when the truck arrived on a flatbed, he later said, "I've never heard of this happening and yours is the third 2021 F-150 has gone into deep sleep mode this year." So has he never heard of it at all, or did he just remember that 2 other F-150's had the same problem and he just remembered. They were quick to replace the battery and reprogram the computer as soon as I brought it in and showed them the article from the Detroit Free Press referenced in this thread. BTW-Thanks for posting the link to the article, it was a lifesaver. Any way, here's to hoping this won't ever happen again as long as I own this truck. Good luck to everyone else.
UPDATE 03/22/2021 - No one at the dealership had any clue what Deep Sleep mode was and suggested that I call Roadside Assistance to have them come and unlock the truck and jump start it. Well, I did exactly that. The first attempt was a fail. The gal could not open the door. The dealership then suggested calling Roadside Assistance again to have the bring out a flatbed and tow it to the dealership. So that's what I did. When the drive showed up, he popped open the door in about 5 minutes and then tried to jump start the truck. It was a fail. The battery was completely drained and his jump box was not working. The only alternative was to drag it out of my garage on skids (since we couldn't get it out of park), load it up and two it to the dealer.
When I arrived at the dealership, again they said they hadn't heard of Deep Sleep mode before. Since the keys didn't work, the dealer had to request the key code from Ford, which required a copy of my drivers license and registration to verify my identity. After getting the key codes, the dealer had two new keys made, neither of which worked. I forgot that the dealer also gave us two standard keys (that don't go in the key fobs) which ended up working. So they thought they could cut new keys from these; however, upon further inspection, these were identical to all the other keys, including the new keys they had cut. The mystery continues.
Finally, the tech decided to tear down the lock and file down/smooth out the tublers which ultimately worked. Now I have a total of 6 keys - 4 key fob keys and 2 standard keys (BTW-Although the dealer told me all keys are working, one of the original key fob keys still does not fit completely in the door lock or unlock the door - FAIL!!). In the end, they replaced my battery and reprogrammed the computer to prevent future battery drains (we'll see about that). What a nightmare.
Although the service tech told me he had never heard of Deep Sleep mode when the truck arrived on a flatbed, he later said, "I've never heard of this happening and yours is the third 2021 F-150 has gone into deep sleep mode this year." So has he never heard of it at all, or did he just remember that 2 other F-150's had the same problem and he just remembered. They were quick to replace the battery and reprogram the computer as soon as I brought it in and showed them the article from the Detroit Free Press referenced in this thread. BTW-Thanks for posting the link to the article, it was a lifesaver. Any way, here's to hoping this won't ever happen again as long as I own this truck. Good luck to everyone else.
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![Ford F-150 Phantom Battery Drain Issue in 2021 F-150 confirmed by Ford -- "Deep Sleep Mode" [News Article] Screenshot_20210319-103008_FordPass](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' width='925' height='1900' viewBox%3D'0 0 925 1900'%2F%3E)
